Running Like Lightning: A False Story

Id like to start by mentioning that the blog title is 100% unique and was most certainly not stolen, borrowed or inspired by another blogs title that may or may not exist. That being said, Ive entered another day bored as crackers and so I'm going to pester everybody with yet another blog that I'm going to write. Well, more like type, but who's paying attention? Right? Right! To the bloggy!

Mizza Recon

Well, recently, I was just SO bored. I was sitting on my bum wondering just what I should do. So I started scanning my console games and started looking for one to play. Decided to pass up playing the ones I play lots and lots and look for one I haven't played in an age. It turns out I haven't played many of my shooters for a while. The one I chose to play was Ghost Recon(Ghost Recon, Island Thunder, Ghost Recon 2, Summit Strike and Advanced Warfighter). Immediately the first thing that came to me was, 'Why haven't I been playing this MORE?'. Its a really fun game and Ive found it hard to put down again.

The other game was Sniper Elite. There's a game I'm glad I bought. Its probably my favorite WWII shooter. Even better than Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. At least for me. Its a pretty good blend of arcade(ish) type play and realism. The arcadeishness comes from being rewarded with "points" for achieving certain types of kills. Then at the end of each level you see your total points earned which includes any minus points earned. So far the best Ive ever earned was a one shot five kill tank kill. It was a total accident but was awesome. The realism comes with making your shots. You have to account for heart rate, breathing, position(standing, kneeling or prone), gravity and wind. you can turn all those off, sure. But you wont net any points at the end of the level! Nope. So, for me, its an amazingly fun game.

Next was Doom 3 and its expansion Resurrection of Evil. I love Doom. Hate the movie. But love the games. I always find myself falling in love with the darkness of it. Yes. I'm one of those people who jumps every time an enemy just pops out from behind a corner. Or teleports in front of me. I always seem to play it at night when I'm tired though, so I suppose its not that surprising that I get a little jumpy. Hehe.

I have plenty of other games as well. Its just that those are on my current rotation until I get bored of them. Which could be a while.

Mizzalings

So, I was playing DDO yesterday. Had an alright day. Started out on my Monk Vampyrica then switched over to my Rogue Jasmene. I had a lot of fun with her until I reached Butchers Path. My fun ceased due to my stupid hireling being, well, stupid. I went in, everything was going fine. There was what I originally thought was a small annoyance turned out to be something that got me killed. Twice. Every time Id stop, he'd stop. When Id start moving again, he wouldn't budge unless I hit the button that makes him return to me. See, when I enter combat, the only thing I think to do is hold the attack button down and smack the enemy to death. Not, 'I gotta call my hireling!'. It was when I got the red named Ogre that my hireling truly failed me. See, Ogres hit hard. real hard. When you're a level two Rogue, its a lot worse. My hireling was standing maybe 6(ish) feet from me. Just standing there. I took three hits and was down. THEN my hire comes over and finishes the Ogre. Didn't matter. I died.

My sister said something recently that rang true to me, 'Nothing brings out my foul mouth quite like a video game.'. It is so true.

The Mizzatough Challenge

After my Hireling issues, I started thinking about just how much I hate them. The result: I really, really hate them. Now, I'm no programmer, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that making a hired companion AI is not an easy task. My reason for thinking this? Simple! In all the games Ive played where you can have a follower, not once has its AI impressed me. they all always find some way to completely mess things up. Or die. A lot. Exceptions to this are, of course, follower based games where you can control them anytime you want(Final Fantasy or KotOR for example).

After my problem on DDO, I came up with a challenge. One name for it is "The Mizzatough Challenge". I like that name because it uses part of my online name. I'm special like that. But really I think of it more like "The True Heroic Challenge". Essentially, the challenge involves trying to make it as far as possible in DDO without using hirelings or other players. A completely solo play through the world of DDO. The idea of this challenge didn't just come from my loathing of Hirelings. It also stemmed from the idea that a true hero would be capable of making it through these places by themselves, no help. There's that and the fact I love to think up really difficult challenges for myself.

We Welcome You To Mizzaearth!

Yesterday, I learned from a helpful Twitter user that One of the LotRO sales going on this week is 25% off Quest Packs. This made me giddy. I was hoping Id be able to get the Warden class, but more quests is more quests, so I'm not gonna complain. Managed to get four packs: North Downs, Trollshaws, Misty Mountains and Evendim. I would have been able to get a fifth pack if Turbine had given me the 250 TP they promised, but, meh. Starting Monday I'm going to hit LotRO and try getting the points as fast as a Mizzaroo possibly can. If I cant get them, then there's always next sale.

Normally, I wouldn't complain about the 250 TP not being there. Or about anything Turbine does, really. I always try to stay upbeat about things. What makes this so different though is that they said all Premium/VIP players who had played the game within 30 days of the really long downtime would be rewarded the TP. That's fine and great! I was all excited, they go and say they're starting to credit accounts the TP and I get even more excited. Then came the tweet: We're happy to announce that the 250 Turbine Point grant for VIP and Premium players has been completed. And that's when I logged into LotRO and realized that they somehow missed me. As it turns out, I'm not the only one they missed. And that's where I get angry. When a company says its finished doing something when obviously they didn't finish, it makes me wanna smack someone. There's not even an admittance on their part for missing people. Just a 'file a ticket with account support if you feel you were missed.'. So, Ive filed 6 or 8 tickets and will just sit and be as patient as I can until I get my points. Problem is, my brothers didn't really raise me to be a very patient person. But oh wells.

Mizzastyle

Just like in real life, in video games we all have our strengths and our weaknesses. Things we can do, things we cant. While playing DDO the last couple weeks, Ive come to a point, I think, where Ive figured out just what I can and cant do in the game.

What I can do, what I'm good at, is playing melees and ranged support characters. They're a lot easier to get a handle on and a lot of fun to play. I tend to rush straight at the uglies and start beating the crap out of them whenever I see them. I drink heal pots when necessary but sometimes I forget. I can play a Rogue or Artificer and disable traps, find secret doors, unlock locked things, gain sneak attack bonuses or attack from afar with my heavy repeater. All these things Ive found I can do with ease.

What I cant do is play caster support. At all. Ive given wizard and Sorcerer my best shot, really I have. I just cant seem to get the grip on the classes that some(like Shin) seem capable of. I cant play the party healer because I tend to forget that the party exists and only pay attention to my own health. These classes, for me, are just too difficult for me to get a grasp of. To the people who excel at them, congratulations! I dunno how you do it, but you do. For that, all of you deserve a big pat on the back.

That being said, there's still a lot of classes in DDO that I can play. Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, solo Cleric, Monk(gotta love Monks), Artificer, Ranger, Rogue and melee Druid. The few others not listed are just too much for my little brain.

Mizzarude

One thing Ive said before, early on in my blogging, is that, while I play DDO, I am not a D&D player. I don't do the PnP tabletop stuff. All I have to do is look at it to know its not my thing. However, for the people who do enjoy it, that's cool, that's great. What I don't like though is when I tell someone I don't play those things they snap off that I have no right to plat DDO if I don't, among other things. What makes it worse is when enough other people chime in too saying the same things, it makes me feel like actually quitting(something I will never do, don't worry). I have to honestly say, if it wasn't for some of the great people Ive met on DDO, what experiences Ive had with real world D&D players in game, Id be of the assumption that the whole lot of them were complete assholes. I dunno, maybe a lot just wake up on the jerk side of the bed in the morning. But, like I said, Ive met a few good ones. So I hold hope that there are other non jerk ones out there. Somewhere. Maybe...

Put simply, I have every right to play DDO, regardless of my background in what its based off of. I will continue to play DDO with questionable skill. And most importantly, I will continue to be the most uber epic elite player. In my head. So, THERE! :)P

And So Our Journey Has Reached Its End

As usual, its been fun blogging random stuff with no real direction. I hope you all enjoyed it too. For now, this is Empress Mizzaroo saying farewell! Stay healthy my subjects! BYE!